It is common knowledge that hand held firearms when fired create a reaction force which drives the firearm upwardly. Accordingly, when such firearms are fired, the reaction forces create a force moment couple tending to twist or rotate the gun so as to cause the muzzle to climb upwardly.
Various means and techniques have been employed by the prior art to overcome such upward movement. The prior art has generally provided compensators which are added onto the muzzle of a gun. These compensators add weight to the muzzle and are provided with vents to control gas expansion and direction.
The principle on which the prior art compensators are based is, by adding weight to the barrel, the heavier barrel delays locktime of the barrel and this in turn reduces recoil by absorbing energy while the barrel is still locked to the slide. The slide then recoils with less speed and with the added weight the felt recoil is thereby reduced.
Venting of the gases has been found to reduce muzzle flip. Compensators having an angled exhaust vector are believed to be more efficient in keeping the muzzle down and develop less turbulence around the exiting bullet than compensators that direct the gases in a 90 degree break around an abrupt flat-surfaced corner.
In modern action-shooting competition handguns, compensators are of four common types: simple ported barrels, weighted barrel extensions, deflection chambers, and expansion chambers. Their function is to reduce muzzle flip and thereby reduce recovery time for quicker follow-up shots. In most of the automatic pistol compensators there are two elements of operation. The added weight of the device being attached to the muzzle and the upward venting of gases through a hole or holes in the top surface of the device. The combined effect is to keep the muzzle down.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,935,000 discloses a combination torque and recoil compensator and barrel bushing for guns which diverts a portion of air and spent gases out through segmental slots.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,313,669 relates to compensators and climb arresters. Slots are provided to provide a pre-release of some gases prior to action by the climb arrester.
Some of the problems with the prior art devices are that the compensators available are intended for use with bullets of specific loads and weight. While these compensators may be suitable for competition shooting where the bullets are carefully constructed, accuracy is lost with non-competition guns such as utilized by the military and law enforcement agencies.
The prior art post muzzle compensators also create a turbulence in the gases that surround the bullet in its flight path. The turbulence varies with the different loads of the bullets.